ECHP - applying from an independent school?

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My child has auditory processing disorder. They wear a hearing aid in class, with the teacher wearing a roger pen. They are academically able with this support but I understand that APD is classed as both a physical disability and a learning disability. They have slow processing and have been assessed under the JCQ guidelines to get extra time in exams.

in the main we have funded most of this ourselves due to waiting lists - so both the hearing aid and the assessments etc. they are at an independent school which manages the situation very well, so my child has not fallen behind in a way that apparently is common for those with undiagnosed APD.

it is going to be hard for us to manage to cover the VAT on school fees, so we are now asking to go on nhs waiting lists again etc so that the next hearing aid is covered. I keep hearing that pupils with echps may be exempt from vat, and that there are long waiting lists for these applications so I wanted to find out more about them. Would my child meet the criteria for one? If we apply for one whilst in an independent school, it is possible just to have it noted that the criteria is met - there is obviously no way that I would expect the school to be named as the only school suitable, although in reality small class sizes are needed to minimise background noise. I’m struggling to find much helpful online , would be grateful for any help.

The charity, IPSEA, has loads of resources for parents of children with SEND: https://www.ipsea.org.uk/asking-for-an-ehc-needs-assessment.

If you feel you won't be able to meet the fees going forward, I'd strongly advise getting some independent advice from an organisation like IPSEA, your local SEND information service (although quality varies) or SOS!SEN. Don't take the advice of the school nor a bunch of random folk on the internet.

Regarding the long waiting lists..... yes and no. From the LA perspective, they have to respond to requests for EHC needs assessment within 6 weeks. They have to carry out the assessment if they agree to proceed, within 20 weeks. NHS diagnoses are not required for an EHC needs assessment, nor an EHC plan. It's done based on need.

In general, LAs are not doing so well against this 20 week statutory deadline. That doesn't necessarily mean they are leaving all cases for years.

If the LA doesn't agree to assess/ issue an EHC plan then you will need to either go to mediation or Tribunal (run by HM Courts and Tribunals)

If your child is doing well in independent and their placement is continuing, then it will be difficult to get the LA to issue an EHC plan, and pay fees. If it all breaks down, then things may be different.

It is not a given that the school would pass on a full 20% rise. They can rebate input VAT and it is likely some services provided by independent schools will not be VATable.

I would recommend finding an education consultant or educational lawyer for advice. In our area most initial application are initially rejected but then overturned on appeal. Paid advisors can help navigate more effectively , and you might find it isn’t necessary to get a diagnosis via nhs to proceed.

I think you're wise not to assume anything. Our family is preparing for the worst because everywhere seems to be full of people in full support of the policy, so we can't see any exemptions coming. There's a real anger at parents by Labour voters which is quite sad.

I was going to suggest the same site as a pp https://www.ipsea.org.uk/asking-for-an-ehc-needs-assessment.

Good luck with it all. We have also considered home schooling, which might be an option if you aren't paying fees? It does rely on youth a bit though I think - I'm not as young as I was so it's a worrying time.

@Labraradabrador I'd be interested where the people telling you that, are getting their data. In most areas and in the most recent publicly available data, more than two thirds of requests proceed to assessment. In around half of local authorities, four fifths of initial requests proceed to full assessment.

Thank you. The specialist is recognised by the nhs for this type of assessment so I don’t think that bit will be an issue. We had budgeted for the normal fees and increases, it’s just that we can’t manage the vat as well (it was already a stretch to pay for hearing aid etc) so I am trying to get everything in order so that we are in the best place possible to claim help.
i will give that charity a call thank you and google some educational lawyers. I’m not expecting the local authority to pay their school fees, but if there is a chance that having an ECHP will exempt my child from VAT on those school fees, I wanted to find out if we have a chance of getting one.

What happens if the local authority does not respond within the statutory time line? Is there any consequence?

It's just all extra money though. If we can't afford extra in fees we won't be able to pay for a solicitor along side extra school fees while we figure out if they can get help for goodness knows how long. It's so depressing.

This is based on experience of parents in my la- I have no idea what national trends are, but amongst local Sen parents the expectation is very much that your initial application will be rejected, you will have to challenge, decisions will be delayed significantly

@PanicAttax my child would really hate home schooling - plus I could not juggle my job and that, so definitely not an option for us! But equally we will have make cutbacks - so need to make sure we claim every thing they are eligible for from the state - so items that we have been paying for privately now (or at least get on the waiting lists to do so), so that I can maximise our cash for vat.

Yes, getting on all the lists and finding out what you are entitled to is important.
It looks like I might have to give up my job as I earn the least but I really would not have chosen this. I don't know if I will cope with homeschooling to be honest but there aren't local options we are happy with for their safety.

Agree - it shouldn’t be this complicated. I try to think in terms of cutting the assessment process by a year is worth £x. I admire people who can take it all on themselves, but I do think professional advice is worthwhile if it means getting your children what they need more quickly.

Thank you all, much appreciated. I think we will see if we can get an educational lawyer to help us draft it in the first instance as hopefully they will be able to assess the likelihood of success in getting one. And they can also tell us how, if the authority does not meet the deadlines, this impacts on the echp.

Hopefully labours manifesto will contain more details about whether it is just having one that is enough or if the echp has to have the payment of school fees as a pre-requisite. I must confess I had never thought the latter would be an option for my child, but we will ask the lawyer about this too.

@PanicAttax i hope you get a solution. It is a worrying time

Would the school your DC attends support an EHCP? Some independent schools prefer that students do not get one due to funding formulae meaning that they are significantly out of pocket or they have to pass the additional costs onto parents.

We pay the fees at the moment. I presume that echps can be in place without the local authority paying the fees - it is a education plan I think? If it means that they don’t need to charge my child vat and they have a pupil that might otherwise need to leave, I assume they’d be okay with it

I don’t think they have any pupils with one at the moment. But they do have a number of pupils with SEN so that may change I guess if the VAT changes come in

How does that work?
What do you mean?

Do you mean, independent schools sometimes don't want parents to get EHC plans because then they can't charge parents extra for eg one to one support for their child?

Package of support should meet child's full needs :/

If it doesn't and I'm sure there are cases where this is so, then that is what the appeal mechanism is for.

Just having an EHCP won't be the criteria, as far as I can see. The plan is far from fleshed out, but the quote so far from labour seem to be

"“Places that are funded by EHCPs for children with special educational needs will not have a higher cost as a result of VAT.”

The point will be I think to exempt pupils whose fees are paid by their LA as a result of the private school being the only one that can meet their needs. Not a blanket exception for all those with EHCPs.

Are you claiming Disability Living Allowance for your little one?

There’s no real penalty for LAs not meeting timescales - parents can complain to ombudsman and may result in some financial remedies but nothing compared to the money saved by kicking the can down the road a year or two.

Generally that isn't how it would work, no.

If you're paying the fees and the chikdnis still in school, no Ehc Plan will be made.
If your child leaves/ is forced to leave that is a different story.

I probably would save your money re: lawyer and make the application for EHC needs assessment yourself (the bar is low and IPSEA and others will provide good advice, an appeal over failure to assess is likely to succeed without specialist intervention). Save the big guns for challenging a failure to issue an EHCP or the content of one if issued.

Thank you, I am a bit confused. I thought the ECHP is an education plan for children who need extra support due to educational needs. Presumably children don’t have to leave a school to have this set out normally? Or have I misunderstood?

@jennylamb1 no, we are not. I have not looked into this, but it never occurred to me that APD without an additional need would be eligible?

@PatriciaHolm yes I had seen reference to that as well. But nothing seems very clear on this at the moment, as you say, not much fleshing out of this pillar policy! If it is just an ECHP it would make sense for us to get in the system now rather than wait for the eventual clarity

Worth applying for it. Our son was diagnosed with Asperger's and is in receipt of it, it's about £60 a week until 16.5 years old. It would certainly help with costs which is what it's there for.
www.ndcs.org.uk/information-and-support/money-and-benefits/disability-living-allowance/dla/